Renaissance Presents ALiVE

Product Description
System Recordings is proud to present Renaissance’s brand new 2xCD mix compilation ‘ALiVE’, from fast-rising UK DJ/producer, James Zabiela.

James’ career has been meteoric to say the least. After winning Muzik Magazine’s Bedroom Bedlam competition in 2000, he went on to win the award for Best Bedroom Bedlam DJ at The Muzik Awards one year later. Quickly snapped up by Sasha’s Excession booking agency a few weeks later, James has spent the last several years traveling the world performing to sold-out crowds alongside the likes of Sasha and John Digweed, Deep Dish and Danny Tenaglia.

Teaming up with Renaissance and System to deliver ‘ALiVE’, the latest mix compilation from the UK’s premiere clubbing authority, James Zabiela proves why this young stars’ accolades have been well deserved. Knowing what a great track should sound like and the places it can be taken by manipulating and working it for maximum dancefloor impact is James Zabiela’s forte. Layering different sounds with the aid of two Pioneer CDJ1000s, an FX unit and a pair of trusty Technics 1210 Turntables, James’ hands and ears don’t let up for a second, leading the listener on a breathtaking musical journey over the course of ‘ALiVE’s’ two discs.

Renaissance is synonymous with groundbreaking artwork and top-flight music, and ‘ALiVE’ carries on in the fine tradition with cutting edge music and rich graphics.

Renaissance Presents ALiVE,James Zabiela,System Recordings,Club/Dance,Dance Music,Electronic,Pop,Progressive House

Average customer rating: Original and exciting, but not for everyone Tricky to get into... Too much experimenting, James... This might help Electronic Noise

Renaissance Presents ALiVE James Zabiela Manufacturer: System Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music House | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Similar Items: Balance 008 One + One Dubai Renaissance Presents Frontiers Renaissance Presents: Nic Fanciulli, Vol. 2 ASIN: B0002IQB0S Release Date: 2004-08-10

Tracks:

1. Luke Vibert - Ambalek (Zabiela's Delboy Edit)
2. Diplomat - The Number One MC & DJ Crew
3. Jason Sparks - Gangsters (Si Begg Remix)
4. Elite Force - Peyote Road
5. Hisham Samawi - Holding On
6. Rob Mello - Fantasize (No Ears Dub)
7. Hisham Samawi - Spirals
8. Smash TV - Circuit Breaker
9. Dallas Holiday - Forgive
10. Atomic feat. Sweet Hustler - Shine a Light (Lee Coombes Remix)
11. Downpressor - Nine (Elite Force Remix)
12. Sven Sarvarko - Transition
13. Donacha Costello - Colorseries Blue A
14. Jeff Bennett - Strange Items (Zabiela's Tease Edit)

Tracks:

1. Southampton Sounds with TARDIS Record Fuzz (Zabiela's Homebaked Intro)
2. Basic Pleasure Model - How To Live (R3volve Remix / Zabiela's CDJFX Dubit)
3. Sound Alliance - C'est La Dior
4. PJ Davy - What it's Worth
5. Lincoln - Funky Odd Box
6. Perc - Ice Cream For Kenton (Spartak's Tek Dub)
7. Diplomat - ZX Complex
8. Kraymon & Future Funk Squad - Firewater
9. Alex Arzeno & Ali Kay - A New Day
10. Deetron - Don't You Know Why (Edit 9000)
11. Momu - Aduro (Blake Potters Remix)
12. Quadsquad - Reach
13. BT - Childhood Montage

Album Description

System Recordings is proud to present Renaissance's brand new 2xCD mix compilation `ALiVE', from fast-rising UK DJ/producer, James Zabiela.

James' career has been meteoric to say the least. After winning Muzik Magazine's Bedroom Bedlam competition in 2000, he went on to win the award for Best Bedroom Bedlam DJ at The Muzik Awards one year later. Quickly snapped up by Sasha's Excession booking agency a few weeks later, James has spent the last several years traveling the world performing to sold-out crowds alongside the likes of Sasha and John Digweed, Deep Dish and Danny Tenaglia.

Teaming up with Renaissance and System to deliver `ALiVE', the latest mix compilation from the UK's premiere clubbing authority, James Zabiela proves why this young stars' accolades have been well deserved. Knowing what a great track should sound like and the places it can be taken by manipulating and working it for maximum dancefloor impact is James Zabiela's forte. Layering different sounds with the aid of two Pioneer CDJ1000s, an FX unit and a pair of trusty Technics 1210 Turntables, James' hands and ears don't let up for a second, leading the listener on a breathtaking musical journey over the course of `ALiVE's' two discs.

Renaissance is synonymous with groundbreaking artwork and top-flight music, and `ALiVE' carries on in the fine tradition with cutting edge music and rich graphics.

Customer Reviews:

Original and exciting, but not for everyone.......2007-01-09

You are probably not helped in knowing by now that this CD is either worshipped or scorned, so I'll try to address both perspectives here, to help you decide which side you're likely to take. I've followed James's music since 2002. I always had a sense that his programming had a sharp edge, but it felt like he hadn't established a stylistic identity yet.

Driven by a need to find his identity by distancing his sound from the mainstream, he embraced progressive breaks when progressive house was beginning to sound stale, but although well executed, the mixes were forgettable. As breaks too became more mainstream, he escaped it by shifting into a warm, minimal, micro-house vibe that I thought was beautiful. Tight mixing, sustained rhythm and insidious programming that took its time creeping under your skin, this is when I first caught onto his ability to reward the patient listener. Alas, minimal house is no way to explode on the dance scene, so he shifted to this new retro robot, ZX Spectrum disco, press stop and turn cassette to side B tech-house sound, bringing us to ALiVE.

He's certainly carved a unique identity alright. Photo shoots with Daleks, vocal samples from Doctor Who (or approximations thereof), crisp, metallic beats, and even a track with reference to the TARDIS have all secured him his very own tonal real estate. ALiVE brings together his love for retro sci-fi, acid house, breaks, and superb mixing and effect skills to a tech-house compilation with a baseline that refuses to be the doormat.

If you're looking for something fresh, the landscape is certainly unique and exciting. In true Zabiela fashion, it can take time to grow on you, and when it does, you can't shake it off. I had the first half of CD2 playing in my head for weeks after hearing "Funky Odd Box". ALiVE is even more exciting if you're a DJ for several reasons. James tears a hole in the EFX 500 as he mangles tracks beyond recognition, and makes extensive use of the CDJ-1000's hot cues and loops. But the true gem is in the sleeve. James was nice enough to fill 4 pages of it with a detailed chronological description of his every move: his signature effect-based transitions, EQ flips, warps and custom sounds. This alone is worth the price of the CD. The first 10 seconds on CD1 alone are given no fewer than 2 paragraphs!

If you're not a DJ however, or remain uninterested in the technical wizardry, I do agree somewhat that this mix can be a victim of its own ambition and its need to be different. In his push for a certain direction, James occasionally paves the way with some rather forgettable tracks, which remind me of his earlier breaks era. The astute listener will catch on their purpose a few tracks down the road, but to the listener in the moment, they sound like filler that you can do without. There are some tracks that I'll even admit to wanting to fast forward badly, but for my self-discipline and assurance of delayed gratification. Frankly though, not every listener can be expected to force themselves through a track, no matter how sweet the reward that follows.

James also has a tendency (here and in most other mixes of his) to end a solid string of tracks with abrupt changes, which I find wasteful of good momentum. Lastly, his tempo can range widely. Though executed brilliantly (I could never imagine how "Aduro" could slide down to BT's "Childhood "Montage" in two steps), it sacrifices consistency for originality.

Ultimately this CD is a landmark, because it debuts a brilliant DJ and effect wizard in his strongest identity yet. If you're eager for something really fresh and solid, if you're drooling to find out what knobs he turned and what buttons he pushed in "Nine" at 03:11, how he used the paper label of a vinyl record in one of his effects, or how he constructs a motorbike sound purely out of the CDJ-1000 live, then this CD was made for you. Buy it right now. You will endure the filler tracks, because the reward for your patience is sweet, the endings cathartic, and all will be forgiven.

If you're simply here with a preset idea of what you like, this is probably not it. You will eject the breaks for breaks' sake pieces and few of us would blame you. At best you may fast forward to the good bits, and perhaps learn to deal with the lack of warmth. That's ok. James Zabiela isn't for everyone, but if you're still intrigued, you should probably give it a shot.

Tricky to get into..........2006-05-18

I've had this mix for about six months and am just now starting to appreciate it. Part of the problem is when DJ's start off with something that stinks it's hard to get past that, and the Diplomat track really, really stinks. I understand that Z is trying to be eclectic, but it's probably safe to leave the genre "cheesy eighties [...]" out.

A lot of hardcore trance DJ's have responded to the universal hatred of trance by turning into chillout DJ's, with awful results, like Sasha's slimy Fundacion debacle. Zabiela's approach (he's apparently a Sasha protege) is to reach out to other sounds without giving up the basic idea: hard, deep, electronic bass riffs that make you want to get up and dance.

It's true disk 2 is better, there are some nice tracks on it, but disk 1 is good too. Just skip past the insipid "The Number One MC & DJ Crew" track. Ugh.

Too much experimenting, James..........2006-02-27

Make no mistake - Zabiela is one of the most technically gifted DJs out there. But this compilation just doesn't work. There aren't enough big tunes on it; most are obscure, as if Zabiela can't decide what kind of music he really wants to play. I always look forward to the eclectic-ness of James Zabiela's compilations, but I think he struck out this time.

The mixing, though, is impeccable, as one might expect.

This might help.......2005-12-23

When i first bought the CD I didnt even know who he was at all. I was going nothing no reviews nothing. Well im really glad i picked this up. It is different than other cds and first and formost this is electro breaks not progressive house. This his Zabiela true style right here. The utilities cd was a dissapointment to this one really because it is not what i expected out of the man. He went to progressive house rather than sticking with the breaks. So if you bought utilities and are looking for the same type of mix it is not here.

With that aside lets move on to this mix. This is by far one of the most unique mixes I have heard in some time now. I love how he gets it going on disc one. He starts off like James Lavelle's Fabriclive 01. He has a very similar style to Lavelle but he goes a little more electro rather than just pure breaks. Disc two goes a little bit on the house side. It is not as ecclectic as disc one but it has its own strong points. If you are looking for some electro breaks/ progressive breaks here it is.

Personally for me when i first put it in i liked it. Ever since then Zabiela has become one of my favorite djs. A little side note Pioneer has sponsored Zabiela to show off how there new EFX-1000 performs. This man is a genious when comes to effects and this mix really displays that.

Electronic Noise.......2005-12-11

I got this CD from a local music store and couldn't wait to listen to it. Unfortunately, there is nothing good to say about this mix. Please read the other reviews written by people who have evaluated this mix (including my other reviews) before you make your purchase on this one, and see whether you agree with their taste of music by how they have rated other mixes. You will be surprised to learn that most of the people who gave rave reviews about J.Z Alive mix are not into this type of music to begin with.

I have never come across a compilation as bad as this one. Sure you can force yourself to like it, like other reviewers, but be true to yourself. This comp. did not even give me a reason to want to give it another chance. Usually there will be something, either a good track, an awesome outro/intro mix, a flow or something that pulls you to give another listen to a CD that otherwise you might think "NAAA". J.Z's Alive mix is actually dead; no emotion, no soul, no intelligence, just pure electronic noise.

Album Review:

1. Renaissance: Revelation
2. Rise [Import]
3. Romeo
4. Sahara Blue [Import]
5. Self Control 2004 [CD-single] [Import]
6. Shut the F*** Up and Dance
7. Silk and Steel [Import]
8. Solo Piano [Import]
9. Soul Food Taqueria
10. Synaesthesia Ep [CD-single] [Import]

Album Review

album review

Album Review

Early Rock from New Zealand, Vol. 11-12

Music from Six Continents (1995 Series): Davis, Beath, Fetherolf, Vazzana

More a Legend Than a Band

Music: Masters of Reality

Reptile [Extra tracks] [Import]

Probot

New Sound

germanbooks88.com Music: 100 Years of Organ Music from the Netherlands

Memories of the Range: Standard Radio [Box set] [Import]

Las Clasicas [Original recording remastered]

Magician Among the Spirits

Moon and Star

Mexican Weed Dub

Finland in Song

Lucky Number: The Best of Lene Lovich